More than 400 hands rose into the air and extended outward Sunday morning at St. John the Baptist in Napa as Father Gordon Kalil led a prayer honoring law enforcement officers and firefighters. The moment was part of a "Blue Mass," the first in what the church plans to make into an annual, all-are-welcome tradition in Napa to recognize uniformed officers in the community.

The event drew about two dozen men and women in uniform and their families, some from as far away as South San Francisco, as well as hundreds of regular parishioners and some who normally attend other churches but came to St. John on Sunday.

Five officers took part in the ceremony, offering words of prayer including a remembrance of Steven Rucker, the Novato firefighter who died in the recent blazes in Southern California.

Gloria Fitzpatrick, a California Highway Patrol officer, was lucky that it was a quiet morning out on the roadways, as she was actually on duty on Sunday morning. She and her husband Russell Fitzpatrick, who works for the Napa County Sheriff's Department, took part in the ceremony they first heard about because their daughter, Jessenia, attends school at St. John's.

Jessenia was the only member of the family not wearing a neatly pressed green uniform.

City of Napa firefighter and inspector Bob Frappia and his family, who normally attend St. Apollinaris Catholic Church, attended the ceremony and went to a mixer afterward with several other officers, Napa Mayor Ed Henderson, and other attendees.

"I thought it was great," said Frappia. "We go to Mass every Sunday anyway, and it was a good opportunity to come to St. John's and pay respect to officers."

Frappia suggested that his colleague Charlie Rhoades, reputed to be a bagpipe player, might be getting his chops together to perform at next year's ceremony.

St. John officials say Blue Masses stretch back decades, sourcing the first such endeavor to a Washington, D.C. ceremony that drew over 1,000 officers in 1934. The turnout was not nearly so large at St. John's on Sunday, but St. John volunteer and sacristan Sara DeCrevel said it was a good foundation for coming years.

Parishioners ranged from those dressed in their Sunday best to casually dressed families. Father Gordon's talk was accompanied by the occasional cries and squeals of young children, and while the intent was serious there were some light moments.

As the proceeding began, St. John director of liturgy Tony Carlin suggested that those in attendance had a possible out when and if they are pulled over for speeding. "Tell them you're from St. John's," he said, before sitting at the piano and leading the choir.

Citing an unnamed Alaska Department Fish & Game worker, Father Gordon said that male reindeer shed their antlers in the winter, while females retain them until they give birth in the spring. He noted that this fact, paired with the traditional depictions of Santa's reindeer, suggests that all "from Rudolph to Blitzen" are female. "Who else but women could take a fat man in a red suit around the world in one night and not get lost?" he asked.

Father Gordon emphasized the important of the work of law enforcement officers and firefighters, as well as the religious foundation for the holiday season. "We can all take things too easily for granted, and we need to be reminded of that," he said.